Extremely glad that she went to Specsavers
Optician saves life of nine-year-old Aoise after insisting she get MRI scan
AN eagle-eyed optician saved the life of a nine-year-old girl by believing the evidence of his own eyes and insisting her family send her for an MRI scan after he noticed unexplained swelling during a standard eye test.
Thomas Doyle, of the Killarney Specsavers store, suspected that the swelling on the face of Aoise O’Sullivan from Glenbeigh might turn out to be serious.
The scan confirmed his worst fears when the child was diagnosed as having a brain tumour.
Thankfully his quick thinking ensured that Aoise was seen to in time and last month she celebrated the first anniversary of her life-saving operation.
The family initially took Aoise for a paediatric assessment and were assured everything was fine. But Thomas persisted in his belief that the scan was required and within a day of it being done
Aoise had vital surgery in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.
Her mother Ciara is adamant that his prompt action is what avoided a tragedy.
She told the Irish Mail On Sunday: ‘I kind of sensed Thomas knew what he was talking about and, even after she was assessed as being fine, he insisted we should get the scan done, and thanks be to God he did.
‘Aoise knew she had to have an operation but I don’t think she knew the seriousness of it. I have to say the staff in Beaumont were top class.
‘But if Thomas hadn’t persuaded us to get the MRI then I dread to think what might have happened.’
Aoise’s traumatic experience didn’t end there though. After suffering complications she returned to Beaumont for another operation to restitch the wound and, just after being discharged, she began complaining of a bad headache.
When she was immediately brought back in it was discovered she had meningitis.
Ciara recalled: ‘If Thomas hadn’t set the ball rolling, Aoise would never have been at the hospital and might have had the meningitis situation at home and it could have been a very dodgy situation.
‘She was fortunate it happened where it did. Twelve months on Aoise is thriving. She is back at school and doing well. The tumour is still there but the prognosis is really good. We have been told that once it doesn’t grow there should be no problem with it.
‘As far as I’m concerned Thomas is not just a hero, he is Aoise’s guardian angel.’
For his part, Thomas says he had to be forceful about the issue as it involved someone so young.
‘I’m qualified 25 years and this is the youngest case like this I have come across.
‘Opticians are not doctors, so we cannot force people to accept our advice, but in a case like this you have to be forceful while making sure you don’t panic the family.
‘If I faced a similar situation with an adult I could offer the advice and if it was ignored I could tell myself I had done my best but they chose not to listen. With a child you can’t let it go too easily.
‘Ciara, and Aoise’s dad, John, trusted me from the start, so it wasn’t a big job to get them to push for the MRI. Had they resisted I think I would have put the reality of their situation to them in far stronger terms.
‘Once I saw the swelling and heard the symptoms she had, then all the dots were joined for me. I knew that the family would have to be the ones to insist on getting the MRI. It is not something that is always done automatically but thankfully they listened to me.
‘With all this Covid around and the constant drip-feeding of news about people being seriously ill and dying isn’t it great at least one health scare story has a happy ending?’
‘He’s not just a hero, he’s her guardian angel’